Which Leica is the best for street photography?

[cam]

Short and sweet... I am fairly new to rangefinders, having bought the Epson R-D1 and fallen in love with the whole RF experience. However, many of the shots I would like to take on the street (which is mostly what I do), I can't -- because the camera is so loud. I realise film is the only way to go here, so... Which camera is the most silent and unobtrusive of the lot?

I'm not in a huge hurry, but would like to know what to look out for so I can swoop up a deal if I come across it. I have a small collection of M-mount lenses and would obviously prefer to use these on the camera. You can get an adaptor to make screw-mount lenses work on M-mount cameras -- is the opposite true as well? (please excuse my ignorance here)

thank you in advance,
cam

 

[Roger Hicks]

They're all fine.

No, you can't put M onto screw. M bodies were made 1mm thinner to allow the adapter.

After that, it's what you can afford. I reckon the MP is the best Leica I have ever used, and it would be the last to go if I got rid of my Ms (2x M2, M4-P, MP, M8).

Cheers,

R.

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

Hi,
If you want silence the Hexar AF or any Rolleiflex/cord will be much more silent than any Leica.
I think the M7 is the best because of the AE. But any Leica will do.
Also a Ricoh GX100 or GRD in snapshot mode is fast and very silent.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema

 

[chambrenoire]

It's the Minolta CLE 😉

 

[tmfabian]

the mp is the quietest and nicest I've used. The m7 for it's ae is a close second.

 

[cam]

thank you, Roger. i just looked at the prices for the -- yikes! i may have to start slightly more modestly, but it's nice to know the dream.

thank you for alternatives, Michael. and, yes, silence is important to me. i always thought the Leicas where the quietest... i have the GRD and love it to death for stealth shots. but sometimes i find myself wanting more. hence, the Epson. but my oh my is it loud! as is the M8...

 

[madsolitaire]

M3 is very quiet. But you've got to be quick with yr exposure settings as there is no built-in metering.

 

[cam]

LOL! i just saw the limited edition Hermes version of the MP... 😛

i guess i'm going to have to troll on Beaumarchais to see (and hear) some of these cameras in person. there just seem to be so many permutations that it's difficult to know what are the must-haves.

for instance, which finder? i reckon i will be shooting mostly wide as i love 28mm (then again, i already have two 35's -- the pre-ash Lux and the 8-element Cron). single-stroke or double-stroke? oh my! i am really out of my element here... and, while metering is a nice luxury, that's definitely not a make or break. i've become pretty adept at judging...

i do truly appreciate all your experience and opinions.

 

[Ray Nalley]

An RD-1 too loud on the street? Your streets must be much quieter than mine! 😉

Cars are louder than cameras.

 

[morgan]

It's funny, just yesterday I was walking on Comm Ave in Boston, which is a pretty big street, with my bessa R2A. I took a shot of a guy and kind of winced, it seemed so loud, despite the traffic and general city noise.

The quietest camera I have is my Kiev 4a. The thing is a whisper. I'd love a Hexar AF too...

 

[Ray Nalley]

I always figure the big guy pointing a camera at you is a sure give away that someone is taking your picture. The click of a shutter is a mere afterthought. 😉

 

[wpkg]

nobody hears any rangefinder when the streets are busy, which is when you take pictures.

 

[yanidel]

An RD-1 too loud on the street? Your streets must be much quieter than mine! 😉

Cars are louder than cameras.

Cam seems to be located in Paris ... where women are much louder than the RD1 😀 Seriously, this is not much of an issue to me. People sometimes will react to the noise but don't assimilate it to a camera most of the times. And anyway, I hide the camera until I take the shot but once it is done, it's done ... the noise won't change much of the people reaction.

 

[yanidel]

It's funny, just yesterday I was walking on Comm Ave in Boston, which is a pretty big street, with my bessa R2A. I took a shot of a guy and kind of winced, it seemed so loud, despite the traffic and general city noise.

The quietest camera I have is my Kiev 4a. The thing is a whisper. I'd love a Hexar AF too...

I think that we tend to over-emphasize the noise of the shutter as we are ourselves aware of it and willing it to be as quiet as possible. But think about it, living in a big city, do you notice and react to :
- noice of a Zippo to light up a cigarette.
- mobile phone text messages incoming.
- car honks.
- women's high heel (this one I am not so sure about lack of reaction🙄)
Most of the times, these are urban sounds that we probably hear but do not react to so the noise of the shutter probably remains unnoticed 95% of times. We hear it because we expect it.

 

[ruby.monkey]

Which camera is the most silent and unobtrusive of the lot?

An MDa with a 25mm Snapshot Skopar? None of this faffing around with focussing - just guess the distance and exposure beforehand, compose and shoot, and you're away. 🙂

(And nothing delicate to break if you have to do a runner when her boyfriend spots you 😉)

 

[cam]

yes, i live in Paris, a fairly quiet part of Paris as well (especially in August!). the noise is not a problem when i go to the more popular areas, but that's not my norm. i like to shoot quieter scenes, slices of every day life -- not really the hustle and bustle. like morgan, i wince... so, yes, the R-D1 is too loud.

maybe i've romanticised film cameras as being quieter than they really are?

 

[yanidel]

yes, i live in Paris, a fairly quiet part of Paris as well (especially in August!). the noise is not a problem when i go to the more popular areas, but that's not my norm. i like to shoot quieter scenes, slices of every day life -- not really the hustle and bustle. like morgan, i wince... so, yes, the R-D1 is too loud.

maybe i've romanticised film cameras as being quieter than they really are?

Out of curiositiy, and in your experience, do people react badly because of you taking shots in Paris ? I also shoot in some quieter areas of Paris and though I am not the in your face type of shooter, being detected after the fact is not an issue anymore. Most of times, a smile or comment and people react positively. Of course, I would not do that in Saint-Denis ...

 

[sepiareverb]

The M7 certainly has the quietest shutter of the Leicas, and the AE can be handy when shooting fast in changing light. That it is just as quiet when shooting in Manual mode makes it my first choice.

 

[cam]

Out of curiositiy, and in your experience, do people react badly because of you taking shots in Paris ? I also shoot in some quieter areas of Paris and though I am not the in your face type of shooter, being detected after the fact is not an issue anymore. Most of times, a smile or comment and people react positively. Of course, I would not do that in Saint-Denis ...

i get similar reactions to you, when people know i'm shooting (i.e., not from the hip) whilst using my GRD. (i'm not in-your-face either, although i do like to get close.) i was taking shots one day, though, of some construction worker on a hotel scaffolding. the guys on the ground kind of yelled an posed for me so i took them as well, thinking that's what they wanted. only after i looked at the shots on my computer did i find they'd given me the finger in the last one (i was shooting exposure bracket) -- oops. many times, though, workers will goofily pose for me after i've taken the first. i comply and thank them.

my only spot of trouble (and lesson well learned) was when i took a picture of a very sour drunk on the metro. not content with one, i went for a second because the reflection was just too delectable. it was on par with shooting in Saint-Denis -- only i couldn't even try to escape :bang:

a camera to your eye is a camera to your eye... for the stealthier shots, though, there is a seriousness that is taken if your camera makes a noise. whereas they may or may not notice the silent GRD (and possibly laugh it off because of the size), the Epson seems to cut through the fog and people turn and stare.

 

[Ray Nalley]

There you go then. A digital P&S is the solution - and a lot cheaper than a Leica M. 🙂